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BistroMath

Jay O.2011-09-08T19:01:41ZSep 8, 2011

Jay O.

1

If you (are lucky enough to) spend time abroad every now and then you may be familiar with the following type of situation: you just had a – admittedly delicious – cappuccino and have paid the bill—but have no idea how much you paid because you’re not familiar enough with the country’s currency.

BistroMath is an app that allows you to convert currencies, check how much you should be tipping and, in case you’ve had dinner with colleagues or friends, figure out how much each person owes individually.

3★★★☆☆

Rating

Features & Use

BistroMath is a great tool that can transform bills so as to provide the user a good overview of what they are paying for. Calculate how much tip you should leave behind, how much each person owes separately, what percent of the bill is taxes... In short, the app does for you what you would otherwise be scribbling on the back of a cardboard coaster.

The app comes with a handy calculator as well as the ‘Advanced Panel’ option that harbours more advanced mathematic functions (Sin, Cos, Tan, ln, log, ...). Results cannot, however, be displayed on the homescreen.

As mentioned, the following functions:

Split

Tax

Tip

FX Rate

can be added to the equation/bill.

I was a bit surprised that there isn’t an option for accessing the internet when checking the FX rate / foreign currency function, meaning you have to enter the approximate currency rate yourself. Also, it isn’t possible to save anything to the SD card (for example)—a pity as this would be a brilliant tool to help calculate total costs and expenses for an entire holiday.

Bottom line:BistroMath is a great little app, and it has more potential than the scope of its current functionality.

Screen & Controls

The calculator page is set up in a nice, orderly way. BistroMath certainly isn’t the most exquisitely designed thing you’ll ever see but the UI is good and functional.
The calculator has a cool 70s vibe about it, in fact it’s somewhat reminiscent of the cult 70s pocket calculator by Braun.

Speed & Stability

BistroMath’s overall performance was very good. It can be accessed in a jiffy simply by hitting the icon and it ran smoothly throughout our test runs.